Selective device



March 20, 1945. c. KITTEI.

SELECTIVE DEVICE March 20, 1945. c. KITTEL 2,371,761

SELECTIVE DEVICE Filed July 20, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 [N VENTO/2. CYL/:lune fr/TTEL web@ TTo/QNEYS.

March 20, 1945. c. KITTEL 2,371,761

SELECTIVE DEVICE Filed July 20, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. CL/Juof ff/ rrEL ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 20, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE sELEc'rrvE DEVICE claude mm1, cincinnati, ohio, assigner to The Crosley Corporation, a corporation of h10 Application July 20, 1937, Serial N0. 154,627

would be possible by hand adjustment. My invention will be described in connection with a particular exemplary embodiment which is a device for the automatic, selective, mechanical tuning of a radio set. It is effective for the remote control of any radio set;but remote control is not always the aspect of greatest fundamental utility in a device of this character. By way of example, automobile radio sets have come into wide-spread use. 'Ihey have to be tuned for station selection, of course; and the tuning is1 most usually done by the driver oi the car while he is driving it. If .the tuning is a relatively lengthy operation requiring visual attention on the part of the driver, -for an interval at least, his attention is likely to be diverted from the circumstances of his driving. 1

It will be quite clear, therefore, that if the tuning of an aptomobile radio set can be made to be carried on automatically in response merely to the pressure of the operators fingers upon one of a series of buttons which he can select by a sense of touch, the utility of the apparatus and the safety of its use will be very greatly enhanced. t The fundamental objects of my invention may be briefly summarized as constituting the provision of a selector mechanism which will be positive and accurate in its action, the provision .of a

. mechanism which is inexpensive to construct, the

provision of a mechanism which the operator can' easily set for predetermined stations at his convenience, and an apparatus of such form that it can be attached to an existing radio set without rebuilding or lmodifying the set itsel-f.

. While it will be understood that my mechanism has utility well beyond the particular exemplary embodiment which I have herein chosen for the purpose of making a full, clear and exact description, I shall now proceed to a particular disclosure of the said exemplary embodiment. It will be quite clear to those skilled in the art that modiications may be made in it without departing from the spirit of my invention so as to adapt it to similar or different uses in various other circumstances. f

The general objects of my invention which I have set forth hereinabove and others which will be mentioned hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled inthe art upon reading these specincations, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe the exemplary embodiment which I have mentioned. Reference is first made to the drawings wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of an automobile radio set with the devices of my invention assembled to it.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the operating l mechanism wtih the cover shown in section. Its

relationship to the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 is shown by the lines 2 2.

Fig. 3 is a plan or elevational view taken from a different angle with the cover also broken away and certain additional parts broken away. The relationship of this view to the apparatus in Fig. 1 is shown by the lines 3 3.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through a relay apparatus taken along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 2.A

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the clutch arrangement taken along the lines 5-5 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines 6--6 of Fig. 2 .and showing the setting mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a wiring diagram with mechanical elements shown diagrammatically.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the settable discs.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the armature of the relay.

The operating mechanism which forms a part of my invention is designed for connection to the shaft of a condenser or condenser gang of a radio set. Its purpose is to move this shaft selectively -in response to the pressing of any given one of a series of push buttons, switches or the like, so as to give a predetermined condenser setting quite accurately. While my apparatus may be employed in connection with automatically acting electrical frequency control means which perfect the accuracy of a tuning approximately affected by other means, yet it is designed so that it may be used with radio sets not having such means. As a consequence, for successful use it must have an accuracy which is very great. Ordinarily there is an allowable error only of approximately one-tenth of a degree in the setting of the condenser shaft. It is 'an object of my invention to provide means for obtaining such accuracy.

In the practice of ny invention I provide a a suitable transmissimx, including a clutch forming a part of or .operatively connected with the transmission aforesaid, I provide a shaft upon which I mount one or more selective means which operate switch means for the control of the motor. The selective means are settable so that they can be arranged to give a predetermined setting of the y condenserv shaft. 'Ihe switch operated by eachV selector disc is of the single pole, double throw type. The reversible -motor is controlled by a relay of the double throw type; and the relay is coupled up with the switch aforesaid. This arrangement, -and the use of a reversible motor is necessary because the shaft of the ordinary condenser is not a shaft intended for continuous rotation in a given direction. The range of movement of the condenser shaft itself is ordinarily something less than 180 as will be understood. Therefore, in moving from certain positionsto other positions, the motor will have to operate in different directions. 'Ihe switches are energized selectively by the series of push buttons, for example, each supplying power to a different switch. A clutch is provided to prevent coasting of the condenser shaft. Since, in the embodiment to-,be described, it is necessary to maintain the current to any given selected switch long enough to permit complete response of the apparatus, and since it may not always be convenient for the operator manually to hold the button in depressed.

position until the tuning is completed, I have proas will be more fully s`et forth. Thedevice does not interfere with the normal tuning or operation of the radio set. In adjusting the'apparatus for tuning predetermined stations, the radio set is tuned in the ordinary way to a given station, .thereupon a selected button is depressed and the vcorresponding selector disc is rotated until an indicator, provided for the purpose shows that a setting has been correctly made.

Following this brief general description of the apparatus, reference is now made to the diagrammatic showing o1' Fig. 'I for a clearer understanding of the organization. I have indicated at I0 a suitable source of power, which in an automobile radio -set will normally be the automobile storage battery.' One terminal of this source of powerV 'tively by leads I8 and I9 to contacts 20 and 2| of" a relay device 2 2. This relay has a double throw armature 23 which 'is' grounded as at 24. It will be clear from the arrangement thus far described that the; armature of-the relay will determine in which directionthe motor |3 will run.

The motor I3 is shown as having a shaft 25 bearing a worm 26. `A shaft 21 bears a worm.

wheel 28 which is slidably but non-rotatably mounted thereon. adapted to serve as a clutch. It is operated by asrijci A shaft 34 is connected to the shaft 21 by any suitable type of mechanicaltransmission, such as providing the shaft 21 with a worm, and mounting a worm wheel on the shaft 34 as indicated generally at 35. The shaft 34 bears a number of Aselector discs 36. It would be possible in a .modication of'the structure to mount these discs upon some other shaft, such for example, as the shaft 21; but accuracy is promoted in the apparatus by providing for a. relatively slow--rotation of the shaft 34, as will be readily understood. The discs 3B are settable upon the shaft 34. Each disc bears a piny` 31 which engages in a fork 33 on a double throw, single pole switch member 39. Contacts 40 and 4| are provided for the switch and these are connected respectively by leads 42 and 43 to the terminals of windings upon the interspaced relay magnets 44 and 45. The other terminals of the windings on these magnets are connected by leads 46 and 41. The switch part 39 is connected by means of a lead 48 to one push possible to eliminate the provision, if the operator r will be effective upon any one of the series of push v button switches (such as 49) only if that push Thus the worm Wheel is means of an armature 29 having a spring or other suitable means 30 urging the. armature into clutch-released position. The magnet 3| is effective in pulling the armature into clutch-engaged position. l The winding of the magnet 3| is connected to the power lead I2 by a lead 32. TheV shaft 21 is intended either for direct attachment ing or the like.

will keep his finger on the push button switch 49 until the mechanism has responded. I have indicated at 53 magnetic means for maintaining i means is connected by a lead 54 to the power lead I2. and by a lead 55 to'contact members 56, one

on each side-of the relay armature 23. A third contact 51 is provided on each side of the armature 23 for connection to a silencer lead 58, which has utility in connection with the operation of the radio set, but is not a necessary limitation upon my presentL invention.

The magnetic means 53 is so arranged that it' button is manually depressed.

In the operation of this organization a setting is made by first manually tuning the radio set toa desired radio station. .The lamp or other indieating means is placed in the circuit. Then, while maintaining this setting of the radio set, the push button 49, connected to a given one of the selector discs 36l is depressed and the selector disc 36 ls nets 44 or 45 so long as the indicating means is in the circuit. Thus the operation of setting my devicedoes not tend/to start themotor so as to change the pre-set tuning. After all settings have been accomplished, the indicating means 52 may be removed and replaced with a plug or the like to make. the lead 5| uninterrupted to ground. An

indicating means of low resistance may be leftv continuously in the circuit 5| if some other means been made for' is provided to prevent operation of the motor during setting. Thus a switch might be provided (and opened` during setting) in one of the leads of the clutch magnet 3 I.

Now if the radio set is tuned to' any other station the switch member 39 will not lie in the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 7 but will lie in some other position, either the position shown in dotted lines at 39a or in an opposite position. In either of these positions, however, it will be making contact with one or the `other of the contact members 40 or 4I, and therefore the motor I3 will be set to-go in forward or reverse direction.

Next let it be supposed that the switch 49 is depressed and that the switch member 39 is in the position shown in dotted lines. The switch member 39 will be grounded by the switch 49 and a connection will thus be established through the relay magnet 45. This will attract the armature "23 and a connection will be established through the motor I3 for its operation in a given direction. Simultaneously, of course, the clutch magnet 3I will be energized to engage the clutch, and also the magnetic means will be energized to maintain the push button switch 49 in closed position. The motor will start operating and will continue to operate in the given direction until the pin 31 on the disc 36 engages the fork 38 in the switcli part 39 and moves this switchy part to the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 7. Thereupon the current connection to the relay will be broken. The current connection to the motor will likewise bebroken and the motor will stop. The current connection to the clutch magnet 3| will be broken and the clutch will be thrown out. whereby coasting of the motor I3 will not be imparted to the shaftl A21. Likewise the current connection to the magnetic means 53 will be broken by the relay and the push button switch d'9 willv bereleased. The device has accomplished the tuning of a radio set to the desired station. It will be understood, of course. that there are as many of -the selector discs 36 mounted on the shaft 34 as may be desired. Each disc will have its own switch comprising members39, 40 and 4I land its own individual push button. Only one of these series of elements is effective at any one time in energizing the selector mechanism, for the reason that but one of the push buttons will be depressed at any one time.

In this way I have provided a simple, effective and accurate mechanism for the purpose described. I come now to a particular description of the exemplary form of my device. In Fig. l have shown at 59 an automobile radio set. vMy selector mechanism may be housed in a casing t9, attached to a bracket 3| arranged for direct connection to the cabinet of the radio set 59. The particular form oi' the casing and bracket means may be modified to sut different conditions. The

1 casing will be perforated as at 32 to disclose the various selector discs and permit their adjustj ment. A suitable covering for thisopening will usuallybe provided. i

lIBy reference to Fig. it will be seen that the shaft.21 is suitably journaled in the frame of the device and at one end bears a means 33', whereby it may be connected directly to the condenser drive shaft of the radio set 59. 'I'he bracket 3| will be so shaped and proportioned as to permit such connection. At the opposite end of the shaft' 21 there are connection means 94 to which the usual ilexible shaft means 35 of the ordinary dial and control means '33 of the radio Means should be provided for holding the armas set may be connected. The clutch means which I have hereinabove described is normally disconnected excepting when the selector mechanism is being operated. Thus the shaft 21 forms a direct connection between the flexible drive 65 and the condenser drive of the radio set 59. As a consequence, the tuning and control of the radio set may be accomplished as is usual by means of the device 'E6 quite irrespective of the presence of my device. My mechanism, therefore, is adjunct to the radio set in this particular embodiment, but unless energized, does not interfere with the operation of the set in the usual way.

The other parts of my apparatus comprise a push button box G1 containing a series of push button switches 68 and provision for the removable insertion of a suitable indicating means, such as a light 52 or a bridging plug. The box 61 has suitable means 10 for mounting it in a position of convenient access to the operator. In the particular embodiment shown this means is a means suitable for mounting the box upon the steering column of a. motor vehicle. Such mounting may and usually will furnish the necessary ground connection, although aA separate ground connection may be provided, if desired. The push button box 461 is connected with the apparatus in the casing E0 by a suitable plural lead cable indicated at 1I. This cable will contain a lead 48 for each of the'several push buttons 68 plus the leads 54 and 55 and a ground lead if that is to be separately employed.

The various mechanism which I have hereinabove referred to, is mounted upon a suitable base :12 which may conveniently form one side of the casing 60. The particular manner of mounting the apparatus is not a limitation upon my invention. A particular arrangement is illustrated in the drawings and will be found to be most compact and convenient. The various elements described in connection with Fig. '7 will be recognized by reference to the same index numerals inthe other figures. The motor I3 may be an ordinary, commercial, reversible motor.

For the clutch means, I prefer to mount a bracket 13 upon the base 12. The armature 29 is hinged to this bracket. The hinge may be a very simple arrangement, and since the range of movement of the armature 29 is not very great, the spring 30 may engage between an ear 14 on the bracket 13 and an ear 'I5 on the armature 29. The armature may have a shield 16 of nonmagnetic material to prevent this armature from sticking to the core of the magnet 3|. The end of the armature is bifurcated or forked as shown at 29a and the fork engages in a groove 23a in the slidable worm wheel'23. This wheel is slidably mounted on a pin 11 on the shaft or upon a collar 13 which is attached to the shaft as shown.

bent piece of metal pivoted in a suitable way to brackets 19. A convenient Way of doing this is by striking a tongue in the central portlonof the armature and passing a pivot means 3| through the opening thus formed. Contact points 32 may be riveted to the armature as shown.

ture normally in an intermediate position. One such means. is illustrated in Fig. 4, as comprising strips of resilient metal 83 attached respectively to opposite sides of the armature and having feet bearing respectively against the ends of the coils of the magnets 44 and 45. Other suitable resilient control means may, of course, be employed.

Between the brackets i9, I provide a bridge 85 of insulating material to which resilient conduc- Y'.

tive means-86 may be attached, bearing the contact means 2l), 2 l, 56 and 51. Suitable connection to these means may be made through terminal members 81, or otherwise.

A selector disc'is illustrated in Fig. 8 at 3B. In this form, it is a disc of insulating material, the

edge of which is knurled or notched as at 88 to members 39 are pivotally mounted in bifurcated studs 9| on an insulating bridge- 92 Aattached to bracket means 93. The contact members 40 and 4l are likewise attached to thisbridge by suitable bolts, or otherwise. The switch members 39 move freely in either direction, and the contact members 40 and 4l are so shaped, as shown, as to tend to retain the switch members 39 either when occupying a position such as that shown in Fig. 6

, or the opposite position. Since the accuracy of the device will depend in some measure upon the way in which the contact members I0 and 4| come into contact with the switch member 39, it

i is well to provide positive adjustment means for these contact means. Accordingly, I have shown small angular brackets 94, one for each of the contact means, attached with the 'contact means to the bridge 92. bears set screw or similar adjusting means indicated at 95.

It will be clear that as manyY ofthe selector discs 36 may be provided as desired, each selector vdisc having its own set of switch and contact members and its own push button in the box 61. I have illustrated a device having eight push buttonsl and consequently eight selector switch mechanisms and eight selector discs. Ordinarily this will be found to take care of the usual re'- qulrements either of an automobile or household radio set, especially when it is remembered that Each of these small brackets 1 the device of my invention does notjinterfere with the usual operation of the radio set and ldoes not interfere with the tuningof the set to stations different from those stations for'which the selector mechanism has been set up. My mechan maybe built into any' radio sets or attached dire tly vand without difliculty to those already in service. The owner and operator of the radio set makes his own selection of stations for automatic operation. He does this as I have herein- .above indicated, by'pluggng .in the light 52, tuning the radio set to any desired station, selecting a button which is to represent that station-depressing that button whereuponV the light 52 will glow, ascertaining the corresponding selector disc 36, and rotating that disc by means of the finger until the lamp goes out, whereupon the device ,has been set'for that station. The operation is repeated for as many stationsasit is desired to set up on the automatic mechanism. The lamp 52 may then 'be removed, and replaced with a bridging plug. The setting may be changed or varied to diierents'tations at'any time.

It will 'be clear that modiiicatlons may be made in the arrangement of parts and organization of apparatus to adapt it to diierent uses, without vdeparting from the -spirit ofvmy invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a control apparatus for positioning a mov-` able member; electric means for actuating said member including a control circuit for said means; a positioning device, including an adjustable element, operable by said means to o'pen said circuit to stop said member at a desired.l adjustable position; an indicator 'and a manual selective device for vclosing said circuit directly or through said indicator, said indicator having.

an impedance with respect to said iirst named means suiiicient to` prevent operation' of said means when the indicator is in the circuit; whereby, with said indicator connected in circuit, said element may be set by first positioning said'Y v membe'rmanually at a desired position and then adjusting -said element to effect deenergization of said indicator, and thereafter without said-v indicator 'in circuit said. means *may be used'for actuating said. member to said desired position.-

cmunrr Krrrnr.; 

